Thursday, October 22, 2015

Madhavi Krishnan calls herself as a computer scientist who loves food, but she's actually an entrepreneur shaking up how people can buy food in Madison and surrounding communities.

Krishnan, a former Epic employee, launched Square Harvest last spring as a place where farmers and other food producers connect directly with consumers via a website. The site lists what farmers have for sale and consumers pick out what they want. Farmers and other producers – think bakers, cheesemakers and meat producers – drop off the ordered items on Friday at a warehouse where it's sorted and then delivered to customers free of charge on Saturdays.

"It's all about keeping food dollars local," says Krishnan, who spoke last week at the Wisconsin Innovation Network-Northeast Chapter's meeting in Appleton as part of a broader look at the intersection of food and technology. "It's a farm-to-table grocer. Consumers are interested in fresh food and farmers have that fresh food, but it's not always easier to connect. This is a lot easier than standing in a farm market stand somewhere."

Krishnan views her business as a complement to CSAs, which she called a "mystery box – you never know what's inside. We get a lot of orders in after people get their boxes."

She started Square Harvest in March with 10 farmers. That number is now up to 70. "We have low overhead and the food is fresh as fresh can be," Krishnan says.

"Fresh" and "local" are key words with consumers now when it comes to food, says Theresa Feiner, an economic development specialist with the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. "We're definitely seeing a shift in consumer preferences, especially among millennials," she says. "They want transparency in their food."

Square Harvest is just one example of what Wisconsin businesses and farmers are doing to adapt to this new marketplace, Feiner, says. For example, Roundy's buys produce from local farmers through the Food Hub Cooperative and then sells it at its grocery stores.

"Businesses see the value in investing in local produce," she says.

Just as Krishnan leveraged technology, in her case a software program, others are doing the same to bring changes to the food supply chain, Feiner says. "Technology plays a role in everything from using robotics on the farm to feed and milk the cows to how technology is used in food production and processing," she says. "It's everywhere."

It all plays into how the ag industry is changing in Wisconsin, says Daniel Smith, DATCP's administrator for agriculture development. His department works with farmers throughout Wisconsin to grow and promote agriculture.

"We really want to help farmers be successful. We want to protect our ag diversity, protect our resources and bring in funding resources," he says. "We work with farmers on a variety of issues, from dealing with regulations to succession issues."

As for Krishnan, she's preparing for Square Harvest's first winter, which she admits will be interesting since Wisconsin can't grow crops year-round outdoors. Some veggies grown via hydroponics will be featured as will be some stored crops.

"We're just starting out and have a lot of room to grow," she says. "I haven't looked for capital yet, but I probably will soon. The Madison area has been supportive of us. It's been very exciting."

Incubator moves ahead

The city of River Falls, River Falls Economic Development Corporation, UW-River Falls, and the Chippewa Valley Technical College have received a $1.4 million grant to construct a business incubator to serve the St. Croix Valley region.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration Investments for Public Works and Economic Development Facilities grant will fund the creation and construction of the St. Croix Valley Business Incubator, which will open next fall.

Funding sources for the project include the $1.4 million U.S. EDA grant, a $250,000 grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and a commitment from partners to cover administration and infrastructure costs. The multi-use facility will be designed as a hybrid entrepreneurial center, housing 24 small or start-up businesses and offering business incubation, workforce training and business acceleration services. UW-River Falls will provide a director for the facility.

-- Matzek, a freelance writer and editor, is the owner of 1Bizzy Writer. She has worked in the past as a news editor at Insight Publications and as business editor at the Appleton Post-Crescent.

Yes, the technology moves quickly to reach out to the entire urban and rural areas. This will begin developing the rural areas as well. But, we need those areas protected from township. If technology reaches those areas, we will lose our traditional cultures. I had a detailed study on that. If this prolongs, then the next generation will not spot any villages and cultural habits in future. This is a great topic to write a paper as well.

Joomla Customization Can Move Your Business in the Right Direction, Use the Most Effective Local SEO Techniques for Attracting the Right Business Opportunities to writing best essay www.bestessaywriting.com Setting the Right Goals for Your Business

I really enjoyed reading your article. I found this as an informative and interesting post, so i think it is very useful and knowledgeable. I would like to thank you for the effort you have made in writing this article. online Assignment Help

It is amazing how technology has made a lot of things that were unfathomable to become a reality. It is a good thing when technology connects farmers and consumers. You can get reliable creative writing help by clicking on the link below:Looking for Creative Writers

Information of entrepreneur who start a portal that connect farmer and consumer directly is very effective. as similar we can also connect expert assignment writer and students by our online portal who provides Essay Assignment Writers help in Sydney at discounted price.

myassignmenthelp Service is now available at very affordable price so lets complete your assignment with singaporeassignmenthelp.com experts. Hire assignment experts from "singaporeassignmenthelp.com " and finish your assignment on time to achieve higher grade in academics.

We have the team of highly skilled professionals, who write academic solutions like , Essay Help, Dissertation Help, Homework Help, assignment helpWe have core team for giving best help for assignment, amazing essay writer, dissertation writer and assignment writers are live to give solution.

Our online paper help services differ greatly than others. It is not because we provide online study assistance in an exact manner that students want. There are various other reasons that attract students from all over the UK to avail our online study support.

Our online paper help services differ greatly than others. It is not because we provide online study assistance in an exact manner that students want. There are various other reasons that attract students from all over the UK to avail our online study support.

Those students who are searching for cheap essay writing service providers in USA that provides college essay writing help for any subject. We are one of the best college essay writing service provider in USA, you can buy essays from us. Students can hire best essay writers from us and our experts are available 24*7; you can contact us at any time as you want.

The cricket fans who wish to book tickets for the match between the RCB and MI, here we will update complete details regarding the date of the game location, stadium and player lists on this website so please connect with us.

Assignment Help brings to you a comprehensive solution with an assurance of peerless writing style, implemented in every paper. Our online Programming Help services ensure students receive needed assistance to fulfill their desired academic goals.

Students assignment help caters the best assignment help Australia service to the Australian students. We offer help students in accomplishing their Assignment work and study help on your requirement at low price. We are capable to choose the best tutors for students Assignment requirements, subjects.

Great site and a great topic as well I really get amazed to read this. It’s really good. I like viewing web sites which comprehend the price of delivering the excellent useful resource free of charge. brass gramophone

I am very happy to read this. This is the kind of manual that needs to be given and not the random misinformation that’s at the other blogs. Appreciate your sharing this best posting. Accounting Assignment Help NZ

The most widely used online social network site Twitter aids individuals to comprehend about ongoing things and activities or social reactions of their favorite superstars. buy permanent twitter followers

Extraordinary post brimming with valuable tips! My site is genuinely new and I am additionally experiencing considerable difficulties getting my perusers to leave remarks. I guarantee this would be helpful for the greater part of the general population download instagram stories

I found this one pretty fascinating and it should go into my collection. Very good work! I am Impressed. We appreciate that please keep going to write more content. We are the assignment helper, we provide services all over the globe. We are best in these :- services

Sample Assignment, for about a decade, has offered a year-round online assignment. To look at our services from a different perspective, we are also there as online academic assistants working providing reference assignments on students’ behalves. With our Accounting, Nursing, Management, Marketing, Law, IT assignment help services, we have been, since then, providing excellent and outclassing assignment help. Be it any package you choose on our website, you would find yourself opting for a convenient and affordable assignments help Australia package. The research, industry, and academic experts we possess have dealt with a number of pan-industry scenarios and, at the same time, dealt with thesis, CDRs, Essays, Assignments, Homework, Dissertations, Case Study analysis, Projects, etc. Ever since our inception, students have found our services reliable and hence voted us the No.1 Assignment help online provider in Australia. We have made sure that the process remains grounded and already slashed just because we value the money in a student’s already-shallow pocket. With our services, you can avail of our convenient online assignment help and samples available on our website for free. Are you ready, for the HD?

I found this one pretty fascinating and it should go into my collection. Very good work! I am Impressed. We appreciate that please keep going to write more content. We are the assignment helper, we provide services all over the globe. We are best in these:- servicesDo My HomeworkDo My Assignment